Mr Farage will not be encouraged by a national poll in the last 24 hours that shows support for UKIP has fallen three points to 11%, the lowest level since 2012.

Opinium Research surveyed 1,916 adults online on April 8th and 9th for the Observer newspaper.

It has been suggested that fronting a national campaign and being the candidate locally for the coastal seat in Kent is the reason for his slide in the polls, a lead which stood at 11 points in February.